On April 28, 2017, the World Intellectual Property Day was celebrated. The Property Rights Alliance (PRA), publisher of the annual International Property Rights Index (IPRI), sent a letter last April 25 to the head of WIPO, below. MGT is one of four ASEAN-based free market think tanks that signed the letter.
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Celebrating the
2017 #WorldIPDay
We the undersigned are proud to celebrate World IP day
with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Intellectual property (IP) rights
play a crucial role in growing economies, driving innovation, and saving lives. Robust IP systems provide
the greatest incentives for innovators to create the next generation of goods and services, artists to
produce original works, and entrepreneurs to enter the marketplace. They also allow for the sharing of
knowledge and technological advancement. Invention comes out of the shadows with good intellectual
property protections.
IP Rights Grow the
Economy
IP-intensive industries are the cornerstone of modern
economies. Between the U.S. and E.U., IP-intensive industries employed between 30%-38% of their
workforces—more than 127 million jobs. As a matter of fact, these industries are responsible for
generating nearly 40% of the combined US & EU gross domestic products.
IP-intensive industries in these economies paid workers
46% higher wages than those employed in comparable jobs in non-IP-intensive industries.
Similarly, per capita income in countries with robust property right is 21 times more than per-capita income in
countries with weak protections.
IP Rights Drive
Innovation
Human ingenuity is boundless, and IP rights create an
environment where human creativity can be unleashed. In 2015, a record 2.9 million new patents were
filed worldwide—ranging from groundbreaking technological processes to cures of
catastrophic disease to modernizations of everyday conveniences.
To thrive, innovation must be protected. Enforcement of
IP rights prevent production of counterfeits that undermine economic growth and finance criminal
organizations. This underground economy is responsible for nearly 2.5% of global imports, threatening
iconic retail brands and next-generation medicines alike. Copying is not the same as inventing.
IP Enhances Lives
Each patent offers an innovative approach to solving a
human problem. Around the world 1.2 million people die in traffic accidents, and commuters waste
years of their lives on the road. Now, over 33 companies around the world are investing billions of
dollars, hiring thousands of researchers and
engineers, and inventing new driverless car technologies
aimed to reduce traffic deaths and save time, a truly non-renewable resource.
However, the intellectual property that delivers these
benefits and many others has never been more at risk. Even within the United Nations system, initiatives
such as the High-Level Panel on access to medicines threaten to undermine the very protections that
are so necessary to solve today's global challenges. WIPO must play a more active role in
informing international debates.
Therefore, the undersigned call on WIPO to 1) review the
ways that IP enhances economic development and access to new products; 2) proactively work with
countries to stabilize, grow, and enhance their IP regimes and protections; 3) support IP as a property
right and a right to enhancing human growth and development, and oppose adoption of policy to the
contrary such as the UN High-Level Panel report.
World IP Day is an opportunity to celebrate that which is
uniquely human: constant innovation, reinvention, and curiosity. Intellectual Property fuels
the economy, drives innovation, and saves lives. We look forward to working with WIPO to advance this
understanding of intellectual property rights,
and to produce complimentary efforts aimed at
accelerating the adoption of robust IP protections across the world that make intangible futures tangible.
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See also:
IPR and Innovation 32, On TPP, medicines patent and tobacco trademark, February 29, 2016
BWorld 26, IPRI 2015 in APEC economies, November 19, 2015
BWorld 45, Asia Liberty Forum and property rights, February 29, 2016BWorld 81, Property rights are human rights, September 30, 2016.
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